Spreader Bar Hook broke off?

snowbunny · Since 05 Nov 2013 54 Posts

That other guy with a broken spreader might have been me: the hook ripped off of my Dakine Hammerhead-type hinged spreader bar in the middle of the Columbia a couple of weeks ago. I searched online and this exact same thing has happened before with this bar design and if you look carefully you might see that the weld is going to fail before it does.

Anyway, mine broke when I wasn't particularly powered up in the wind shadow right behind Wells island. I had done a few boosts earlier but when it happened I was just working my way upwind when Zoink! and the hook ripped off. The kite was still attached to safety leash with the broken hook still hanging on the CL. I dropped the kite to the water, and released the CL safety. Then, with the kite totally depowered, I unhooked the spreader bar from the harness and stuffed the harness bar through the CL (tight fit), then re-attached the bar to the harness. Reset the safety. It was awkward with the sheeting so close to my chest, but it got me back to shore.

A couple of observations:

-It was a pain to re-set the safety on the water (Cabrinha 2013 bar): there was enough pull to make it hard to deal with the re-setting the release. Any tips? If I was in nuking wind or shore break I think that I would have been screwed.

-I debated if it was it sketchy to "hard-wire" the CL into the spreader bar, but I figured that the releases would still work if I needed them, so I think that I was OK.

On that note, thanks to everyone on this forum for all of your tips and stoke as its helped me be mentally prepared to deal with random events that I would never have expected. This could have been a disaster if it had happened in the cold season, and was (to me) totally unexpected, so (another) good reminder to dress for the swim and to wear a PFD.

Occupied Columbia · Since 12 Nov 2011 376 Posts Columbia City Obsessed

I was just thinking if that happened to me I would hold on to the chicken loop with one hand and try to put the leash behind the the spreader bar with the other. snug the leash until the chicken loop is at the spreader bar then tie a slipknot. that way you wouldn't have to completely release your kite at any point.

wylieflyote · Wed Aug 26, 15 4:19 am

Happened to me: Roosevelt, 9M, mid-Columbia. I released to flag the kite so it was not under tension, then slipped chicken loop in behind the leg/waist webbing on my Mystic Warrior, then re-assembled CL, fed out the flag and relaunched kite. Then cautiously traveled back to the launch.
Of course, I cannot imagine trying this in some of the high-wind days you've had recently. Time for a yardsale.